A UN human rights expert on Wednesday called on the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to do more to protect human rights workers in the country, and to prosecute those who harm them. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya issued a list …

Ohio corrections officials executed convicted murderer Daniel Wilson on Wednesday morning, marking the state's first use of a new lethal injection method termed "set-to-die." The procedure was announced in May, and requires officials to shake and call out to the prisoner after a sedative has been administered. A second dose of the sedative can then be …

Canadian federal correctional investigator Howard Sapers said Tuesday that the country's prison system is at full capacity and is unable to handle many new prisoners without expanding. Sapers was testifying before the House of Commons Committee on Public Safety and National Security. According to Sapers, prison overcrowding is partly due …

A Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee has been pronounced dead by military officials who believe that he committed suicide, according to Wednesday reports. Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih, also known as al Hanashi, was accused of fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The military maintained that measures were taken to revive al Hanashi after he was …

A court in Madagascar on Wednesday convicted former president Marc Ravalomanana of misusing state funds by purchasing a $60 million presidential jet. Justice Minister in the High Authority of the Transition (HAT) transitional government Christine Razanamahasoa announced the decision, saying that the court sentenced Ravalomanana in absentia to four years in …

Convicted US district court judge Samuel Kent on Tuesday submitted his letter of resignation to President Barack Obama effective June 2010, after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice [18 USC § 1512(c)(2) text] charges in connection with the alleged sexual harassment of his secretary and former case manager. The delayed resignation would allow Kent to …

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld a ban on handguns in two Illinois municipalities. The panel of judges affirmed the district court ruling that the incorporation of the Second Amendment into the Bill of Rights as it is applied to the states is a …

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected Georgia's system of voter citizenship verification by way of a Social Security and driver's license database. In a letter released Monday, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King told Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker that the proposed changes are discriminatory. Referring to Section 5 of the …

Canadian Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan on Tuesday announced the introduction of legislation [C-35 text; materials] to the House of Commons that would allow victims of terrorism to sue perpetrators in Canadian courts. The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act would allow any individuals who can prove a link between an …

The Federal Social Court of Western Germany ruled Tuesday that Jewish-German Holocaust survivors as a class are eligible to collect old-age pension benefits. Specifically, the court found that although the work performed by three particular Jewish pension claimants in connection with their concentration camp detentions during World War II was …

Human rights groups on Tuesday called for the Spanish government to continue prosecuting those who violate international law under the principle of universal jurisdiction, sending a manifesto to Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The call from more than 100 human rights groups comes less than two weeks …